Premetric thermodynamics. A topological graphical model

Abstract

The simple topological assumption that thermodynamic processes behave as if entropy was an incompressible fluid in a field of temperature gradients and the unifying assumption that a generalized entropy and a generalized temperature can be defined for every work port leads to all the familiar results of thermostatics, Maxwell's and Onsager's reciprocities and other metric results. The model is shown to be consistent with metric geometric thermodynamics, as well as with classical views, but it provides, in addition, better visualization of thermodynamic metrics and a good structure for automated computation of transport and other physicochemical problems.